1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for synchronizing a local data storage of a wireless device with a remote data storage of a remote server, and especially to a system and method for synchronizing according to a type of data.
2. Background of the Invention
With the development of personal electronic communications, enterprise intranets, and electronic and digitized information, many enterprises are beginning to use all kinds of mobile computing devices to assistant execution of commercial activities. Many mobile devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) are small and highly portable, and can update data in real time via hardwired connections or wireless communication. Users of contemporary mobile computing devices are able to connect to mail servers, web servers, on-line banking and other server-based applications located at remote data servers. Many enterprises appreciate the advantage of providing access from mobile devices to their systems or servers. These enterprises seek to extend their business into the wireless world by offering employees and customers remote access to both user interfaces and backend systems, thus providing such users with the ability to perform transactions through their mobile devices. The use of mobile devices breaks through conventional limitations of time and space, enhances the efficiency of running an enterprise, provides more information, and gives the enterprise more business opportunities. Nowadays, mobile devices are widely used in the finance, logistics, storage and distribution industries.
However, these new wireless technologies and applications have a number of problems. For example, many mobile computing devices only provide small display screens and a small memory for storing data and applications. The display screens provide only small areas for inputting of data and displaying of results data. Entry of data into the mobile device can be slow and problematic, and applications that run on the mobile device must be small. Other problems include the high cost of maintaining a wireless connection, and difficulties associated with ensuring that the mobile device has consistent, accurate and up-to-date data.
One solution to the above problems is to provide a data storage in a second computing device such as a remote data server, and to periodically synchronize data stored in the mobile device with data stored in the second computing device. U.S. Pat. No. 6,330,618 discloses a method and apparatus for synchronizing a portable computer system with a desktop computer system. In this patent, the portable computer invokes an internal first sync process, and a communication link is established between the first sync process in the portable computer and the personal computer via a hardwired network or a cable. Then the personal computer invokes a second sync process, and synchronizes data stored in the portable computer with the data in the desktop computer through the communication link.
However, this sync process relies on a hardwired network or a cable, and cannot be used in a wireless environment. Moreover, a volume of data transfer between the portable computer and the desktop computer is unnecessarily high. A good deal of unneeded data are transferred repeatedly between the portable computer and the desktop computer.